WORD ROOTS 53
HERE’S A HINT
SYNONYMS AND ANTONYMS
Some TOEFL test questions ask you to find the synonym or antonym of a word. If
you are lucky, the word will be surrounded by a sentence that helps you guess what
the word means (this is vocabulary in context), but the test question could list just
a synonym or antonym and four answer choices. In this case, you have to figure out
what the word means without any help from context clues. Questions that ask for
synonyms and antonyms can be difficult because they require you to have a rela-
tively large vocabulary. Not only do you need to know the word in question, but you
may be faced with four choices that are unfamiliar to you, too.
Usually the best strategy is to look at the structure of the word. See if a part of
the word—the root—looks familiar. Often you will be able to determine the meaning
of a word within the root. For instance, the root of credibleis cred,which means to
trust or believe. Knowing this, you will be able to understand the meaning of incred-
ible, sacred,and credit.Looking for related words that have the same root as the
word in question can help you choose the correct answer—even if it is by process
of elimination.
Another way to dissect meaning is to look for prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes
come before the word root, and suffixes are found at the end of a word. Either of
these elements can carry meaning or change the use of a word in a sentence. For
instance, the prefix can change the meaning of a root word to its opposite: neces-
sary, unnecessary.
A suffix like -lesscan change the meaning of a noun: painto painless.To iden-
tify most word parts—word root, prefix, or suffix—the best strategy is to think of
words you already know that carry the same root, suffix, or prefix. Let what you
know about those words help you find the meaning of words that are less familiar.
Antonym questions can be problematic because you can easily forget that you
are looking for opposites and mistakenly choose the synonym. Very often, syn-
onyms will be included as answer choices for antonym questions. The secret is to
keep your mind on the fact that you are looking for the opposite of the word given
in the question. If you are completing practice exercises like those in this book, cir-
cle the word antonymor oppositein the directions to help you remember.
Otherwise, the same tactics that work for synonym questions work for antonyms
as well. Try to determine the meaning of part of the word, or try to remember a con-
text where you have seen the word before.